Federal Update
2014 Advocacy Conference
2014 Advocacy
Conference Briefing
Noelle Ellerson
Sasha Pudelski
Climates
Funding
• State and local budgets have yet to reach pre-recession levels
• Cumulative impact of recent federal funding trends: actual cuts in
FY11, FY12, FY13 and only partial restoration of cuts in FY14
Political
• Partisan. Middle ground moderates are gone. It’s an election year.
Federal
• Gridlock between House and Senate
• Our friends at the agencies: Regulation, regulation, regulation.
State
• Trend toward coordinated approach to moving legislation that
threatens public education
• Strong push on education issues with grassroots implications
What is (not) Going On?
• Happening (More or Less)
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Regulations
(Re) Authorizations
Budget/Appropriations
Hearings/Mark Ups
• Congressional To Do List
– Annual appropriations
process
– ESEA
– IDEA
– Education Science Research
Act
– Higher Education
– Early Ed: Head Start and
CCDBG
– Workforce Investment
– Perkins/Career Tech
ESEA: Reauthorization & Waivers
• Reauthorization: It’s a matter of willingness vs.
capacity (aka politics)
• Administration that dislikes both House and Senate
bill
• Reality: 41 states in some phase of waiver
implementation
• No real incentive for Admin to change course;
slowing of waivers is step in right direction, but not
enough
– Equitable distribution of teachers?
– Evaluating state assessments?
ESEA Reauth: Elevator Speech
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Standards, Accountability and Assessment
School Improvement/Turn Around
Funding Portability/School Choice
Maintenance of Effort
Comparability
Funding Flexibility
Class Size Reduction
Ed Tech
RttT and i3
Moot? HQT/Teacher Eval
Share of Federal $$ in District Budgets
Appropriations: FY14
• We had a shutdown. The deal to end the
shutdown required:
– Dec 13: Budget Conference Report Due
– Jan 15 CR Expired
– Feb 7 Debt Ceiling Extension Expired
• The final FY14 appropriations package restored
roughly 80% of all sequester cuts. USED
received an amount that covered roughly 65%
of its cuts.
– Impact Aid: fully restored
– Title I and IDEA have most of cuts restored (~90%)
– REAP left at post-sequester level
Appropriations: FY15
• President Obama’s budget prioritizes education
– $68.6 billion, a $1.3 billion (1.9%) increase over FY14 levels
• Proposal is within parameters of Murray/Ryan budget deal
– Secondary proposal includes priorities above/beyond funding caps
• Prioritizes early ed, STEM, post-secondary access, and safe
environments
• The reality is that level funding is a good year and even a
nominal increase (Title I or IDEA) is a huge success.
– Just because this is the reality does not mean we have to ‘like’ it, or
that we should applaud Congress for level funding.
FY15 Budget & Approps
USED FY15 Proposal: Level Funded
21st century community learning centers
Comprehensive centers
Alaska Native student education
English Learner Education
Career and technical education
IDEA Preschool grants
Homeless Education
Indian Student Education
IDEA National activities
Magnet schools assistance
Rural education
Migrant Education
School Improvement Grants
Native Hawaiian student education
State Assessments
Neglected and Delinquent
Title I
blank
Effective teaching and learning for a wellExpanding educational options: (proposed
rounded education (replaces Arts education)
legislation) Replaces Charter schools grants
Effective teaching and learning: Literacy
College pathways and accelerated
(Combines/replaces Ready-to-learn television
learning: (combines and High school
and Striving readers)
graduation initiative and AP)
Successful, safe, and healthy students: (combines/replaces Safe and drug-free schools and
communities national activities; Elementary and secondary school counseling and Physical
education program)
FY15 Budget & Approps
USED FY15 Proposal: Funded Below FY14 Levels
Effective Teacher/Leader State grants (ESEA Title II)
Impact Aid Payments for Federal Property
Teacher Quality Partnership
Transition to Teaching
Fund for Improvement of Education
ConnectEducators
High School Redesign
IDEA State Grants
Investing in Innovation (i3)
Preschool Development Grants
Promise Neighborhoods
Race to the Top: Equity & Opportunity
School Leadership
STEM innovation
Teacher Leader Innovation Fund (TIF)
Teacher Leader Pathways
Funding Cut/Increase
-$350 million (14.9%)
-$67 million
Eliminated
Eliminated
-$18.1 million
+200 m (ALL new)
+150 m (ALL new)
+100 m (0.9%, COMPETITIVE)
+23.4 m (16.5%)
+250 m (100%)
+43.3 m (76%)
+300 m (ALL new)
+9.2 m (35.9%)
+170 m (133%)
+31.2 m (10.8%)
+74.7 m (ALL new)
E-Rate Environment
• E-Rate awareness: Does your Congressional
delegation and general community know what
E-Rate is an how it benefits your schools?
• Confluence of positive momentum:
– It is outside of Congress
– FCC leading effort to modernize E-Rate
– President Obama’s ConnectEd initiative, as well as
focus on ed tech in State of the Union
– Dan is on the USAC Board
– Full set of FCC Commissioners, including an E-Rate
Champion and a committed Chairman
E-Rate Modernization
• Efforts to modernize E-Rate MUST be two fold,
including a permanent increase in the E-Rate
funding cap as well as programmatic adjustments
• E-Rate is funded at $2.34 b, only slight above the
1996 level of $2.25.
• Proposed structural changes include streamlining
application and renewal process, supporting
broadband for schools, improve process for
consortia applications, and more.
• Recent Public Notice details changes to P2, question
the intent of addressing funding
E-Rate Order: July 11
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Elimination of legacy services (pagers/phones)
Focus on Wi-Fi
Cap funding for P2 at $100-150/ child over five years
Suppress discount matrix for upper decile
$2 billion in found funding, claims of $3 additional
billion
• Call for a ‘leap of faith’ and ‘this isn’t the same old FCC’
• AASA has deep concerns about a proposal that includes
permanent structural changes without simultaneous
action related to permanent additional funding
ESEA
Issues:
“ESEA bills”
that Background
could move this Checks
Congress: background checks
• Protecting Children from Violent and Sexual Predators
Act passed the House in Fall 2013
• Senators Toomey and Manchin are desperate to see
passage in Senate
• Problems with the bill:
– Requires district to conduct FBI, state criminal registry,
state child abuse registry and national sex offender registry
on all employees currently employed and seeking
employment in the district whose job duty results in
supervised access to students (this includes contractors!)
– Checks must be done “periodically”
– Districts must handle appeals of checks
– NO $ to the checks, but may use Title I Administrative
Funds
“ESEA bills” that could move this
ESEA:
Background
Checks
Congress: background checks
Cont.
• Require states to designate a state entity to conduct
school employee background checks, report the
results of checks to school employees and districts,
and manage and investigate appeals of erroneous
background checks.
• Any new federal background check legislation
should apply to prospective school employees only
• Define school contractors more narrowly
• Eliminate state child abuse registry check
• Specify districts are not on the hook for the cost
“ESEA bills” that could move this
Congress: seclusion/restraint
Keeping all Students Safe: 42 House Sponsors (Rs & Ds) and 4
Senate Sponsors (all Ds); Harkin & Miller, sponsors, are retiring
• No federal law necessary; 1/2 of 1% of kids are secluded
and restrained (high estimate)
• 45 states have statute, regulations or guidance on the
use of seclusion & restraint
• AASA data shows schools use interventions
appropriately– media highlights child abuse in guise of
S&R
• More $ for PBIS and School Climate Will Help, Not
Prescriptive Federal Policy
Let’s dismantle our public schools by
voucherizing all our federal ed $ funds
• Two bills to undermine public schools: Scholarships for
Kids Act and CHOICE Act
• Scholarships: 63% of fed $ (the bulk of which is Title I)
can be used for $2,100 vouchers
• CHOICE: Allows IDEA $ to be voucherized (average IDEA
$ per child is $220) and added $ to state voucher for
SWD if state has voucher plan. Creates IMPACT Aid
voucher pilot. Expands DC voucher program.
• GOP Senate and House leadership are sponsors of
these bills (McConnell, Alexander, McMorris Rodgers,
Rokita) and legislation could have traction next year in
all R Senate
Perkins
CTE
Reauthorization
Perkins CTE Reauthorization
In June, 150+ national business & education groups
sent letter urging Congress to reauthorize
AASA’s reauthorization priorities:
• More funding
• Less reporting and less cumbersome local plan
• Incentivize robust business involvement in CTE
• Keep post-secondary and secondary $ separate
• Maintain MOE and Basic State Grant
IDEA Reauthorization
IDEA Reauthorization
• 3 years overdue
• Top AASA Priorities:
– Local IDEA MOE Flexibility
– Improved Due Process System
– Simplified IEP
Other Topics
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IDEA Full Funding
Early Education
Charters
School Nutrition: Food Service Personnel Regs
& School Marketing
• School Nutrition: Community Eligibility
• PCBs in Light Ballasts
• Health Care: Medicaid claiming and supporting
Questions? Comments?
Want more frequent federal
policy updates?
AASA Blog:
www.aasa.org/aasablog.aspx
AASA Connect:
www.aasaconnect.com
Noelle Ellerson
nellerson@aasa.org
@Noellerson
Sasha Pudelski
spudelski@aasa.org
@Spudelski
Weekly Update: Legislative Corps
Monthly Update: Advocacy Alert
Leslie Finnan
lfinnan@aasa.org
@LeslieFinnan
Policy Insider
Legislative Trends
Francesca Duffy
fduffy@aasa.org
@fm_duffy